


Throw All Your Walls (Into the Fire)

by TornThorn



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: And Living in Starling Means He Figures Some Crap Out a Lot Faster, Barry Allen Works For The SCPD, Barry Allen is Really Damn Smart, Biphobic OC, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Past Unrequited Barry Allen/Iris West, Thea Plays Matchmaker, Verdant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-20
Updated: 2017-04-20
Packaged: 2018-10-21 07:23:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10680495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TornThorn/pseuds/TornThorn
Summary: Taking a sip of the new beer the bartender handed him, Barry decided he would finish the bottle, try to find Thea and give her a quick hug, then head home for the night.Which was when Oliver Queen slid into the barstool beside him, apologized for being late, called him babe, brushed a kiss against the corner of his mouth, and whispered furtively, "Please play along."





	Throw All Your Walls (Into the Fire)

Barry tapped at his phone again and sighed when the lit up screen failed to show any new texts or calls.

Taking the job with Starling City PD out of college had been the right choice. It had given him a distance and perspective that he would never have found otherwise. Everything from his dad's wrongful conviction, to Joe's continued disbelief, to the puppy love for Iris he'd spent years nursing, seemed much easier to divide into what he could change, what he couldn't, and what was less important as time went on. The longer he spent away from Central, for instance, the less in love he was with Iris.

That had been a tough pill to swallow, the day he realized half a lifetime of pining relied on proximity over personality. Now he was mostly past it.

Still, it hurt when they set up a time and place to meet, and Iris forgot. He'd been waiting at Verdant for nearly thirty minutes, at first disappointed, then worried when she failed to respond to his texts. Finally checking her other social media, Barry came across an instagram picture posted five minutes earlier: Iris and her boyfriend Eddie at a restaurant he remembered from Central. She hadn't blown Barry off... she'd just completely forgotten their plans.

Waving a hand at the bartender, Barry ordered another beer and was simply glad that Thea wasn't behind the bar tonight. She'd been dropping hints about setting Barry up every time he came into the club lately.

Propping his elbow on the bar and chin on his hand, Barry considered leaving after the next drink. Normally, he didn't mind sitting alone at Verdant. The place was generally packed, which gave him the illusion of being social without having to actual talk with anyone. Tonight, the masses made him feel lonelier.

Taking a sip of the new beer the bartender handed him, Barry decided he would finish the bottle, try to find Thea and give her a quick hug, then head home for the night.

Which was when Oliver Queen slid into the barstool beside him, apologized for being late, called him babe, brushed a kiss against the corner of his mouth, and whispered furtively, "Please play along."

Struck dumb, Barry nodded slightly and leaned in toward the infamous playboy. Why not, right?

* * *

Oliver was regretting his promise to Thea within five minutes of hitting the floor at Verdant.

Speedy had cornered him at the office earlier in the day and demanded he "show some responsibility" regarding the club they co-owned. Oliver had rolled his eyes; he suspected it was all a ruse for his sister to find him a date, not to mention Verdant was Thea's baby. But he had been using the remodeled back area for Hood business, so it probably was prudent.

Then he'd stepped through the doors, nodded to a few people he knew, and almost immediately noticed someone familiar giving him the eye.

Annalisa was, for the most part, a perfectly nice girl he'd had an on-and-off FWB arrangement with during college. They'd gotten along well enough, the sex was good, and there wasn't anything overtly strange about her, right up until a party where he'd mentioned to her that he was bisexual when he realized they were both drooling over the same guy. Then the crazy had come roaring out. His interest in guys was "a phase", or his dad wasn't a "strong example of masculinity", or it was "easier to sow his wild oats" since men were apparently "more promiscuous". (All this from a girl who hooked up with anyone in a two mile radius that could afford a single in the dorms and an order of pizza.)

Oliver had cut contact and found two new hookup buddies, one female and one male just to spite Annalisa. He hadn't thought about her in years.

And now here she was, with that mad gleam in her eyes and headed straight across the floor toward him. God, how was he going to get out of this? After the island, after realizing how unimportant other people's expectations of who he should be really were, he had even less patience for anyone who thought he needed to be "fixed".

And he couldn't just head for the foundry and hide. Thea had warned him she'd be watching, and if he didn't spend a solid hour on the floor, she would find a creative way to make him pay.

His eye caught on someone sitting at the bar and a plan began to form as he made a beeline toward the familiar man.

It wasn't until after he'd kissed Barry Allen that it occurred to him what he was doing. He had never met Barry, but he'd heard about him from Laurel, Felicity and Thea, and seen him at a few crime scenes. The kid was underappreciated at work (according to Laurel), scientifically gifted (Felicity had followed a few of the cases Barry took when they intersected with the Hood, and had a “crush on this guy’s brain”) lonely, geeky in a cute way, bisexual (Thea had dropped those facts, along with a wink), and one of the rare, genuinely good people in the world. (Both women who interacted with him on the day-to-day had been very clear on that.) It shouldn't have surprised him when Barry went along with Oliver's half-cocked plan so easily.

Still, watching him look over Oliver's shoulder, take in the rapidly approaching woman glaring furiously at Barry, and then hug Oliver close was shocking. And when Barry smiled at him, a grin like sunshine, Oliver was left slightly dazed. He was adorable, dammit.

Then Barry pressed a lingering kiss to his cheek and his eyes were bright with happiness. "It's fine, Ollie. You warned me that meeting might run late. Here, let me-" Barry leaned around him to get the bartender's attention, intentionally invading Oliver's space, then pointed at the millionaire. Recognizing her boss, the woman quickly poured a whiskey and passed it to Oliver, before heading back to the giggling crowd of sorority girls taking up a corner of the bar.

"How did it go, by the way?" Barry asked, keeping his hand on Oliver's shoulder, lightly rubbing it in circles.

Blinking, Oliver tried to catch up and realized Barry meant the fictional meeting he'd just referenced. "Fine. Nothing new, although Pattinson's still being a hardass about the March extension."

Barry rolled his eyes. "That guy needs a hobby."

Around a sip of his drink, Oliver started laughing. "True. How about you?"

Having built up her nerve, Oliver watched in the mirror behind the bar as Annalisa moved in. Then paused when Barry answered, "I got called in for a store robbery on Lexington. After confirming the type of van from the tire tracks, we managed to get a license plate from the traffic cam two blocks away."

Watching Annalisa incredulously mouth " _a cop?_ " had Oliver biting back a chuckle.

Coming up on Oliver's other side, Annalisa perched on the barstool and brightly chirped, "Oh my god, Ollie! It's so good to see you!"

Letting his face go momentarily blank, Oliver stared as though trying to place her, finally faked a flinch, and then put on a forced smile. "Uh, yeah, hi Anna."

"Annalisa," she reminded him, pursing her lips before putting back on a cheerful expression. "So, what are you up to these days?"

It looked like she wasn't even going to acknowledge Barry, so Oliver slid an arm around his faux-partner's waist. "You know, running the company, keeping out of trouble. Let me introduce you." Leaning back a bit, he gave the two a clear view of each other. "Anna, this is my boyfriend, Barry. Barry, this is Anna. We knew each other in college."

"In the biblical sense," she quickly added, smug.

Rather than act offended or surprised, Barry snorted, amused and open, before catching Oliver's loose hand in his, slipping their fingers together. "I want to say I knew what I was getting into when I agreed to that first date. I mean, how many tabloids made good money off of Oliver's wild parties back in the day? But I still have folks coming up to me when we go out with a wink and hint." Barry's smile turned soft, and his focus narrowed to rest entirely on Oliver. "I'm lucky, I know that, to get him for more than a night or two."

Shaking his head, Oliver turned to face Barry straight on. "Who here failed out of multiple colleges, and who's got the genius IQ? I'm the lucky one, babe."

At that, Barry moved forward until their lips barely brushed. Oliver felt, more than heard, him breathe, "Is this okay?" and wait.

Oliver was too busy nodding his way right into the kiss to answer.

It started out careful, a chaste press of lips against lips. Then Barry’s mouth slid open with a barely there sigh, and Oliver dove in, feeling the heat spread down his neck and across his chest, mouth occupied while his hands came up to frame Barry’s face and hold him in place, as he deepened the kiss.

They both gravitated closer, until they were pushed chest-to-chest, Barry’s fingers tripping down, catching on Oliver’s hips, then back and around to clutch at his shirt, and neither was sure who let out a sharp whine that transitioned into Barry instinctively nipping Oliver’s lower lip. Gasping a quick breath in, Oliver tightened a hand on the side of Barry’s neck, pulling him in harder, mouths catching and shifting hungrily together.

It wasn’t until someone bumped Oliver from behind, and he distantly heard the quick “Sorry!” that he realized how overwhelmed he felt, greedy for more of this. A hitch in his breath, pulling back and then unable to stop himself from darting in to steal one more kiss, Oliver finally scooted away.

Staring at one another in surprise, Barry blushed bashfully while Oliver fought down his old smirk.

Which was when a voice they both recognized gleefully announced, "Yeah, she's long gone, boys."

Oliver hadn't known Barry's cheeks could turn that red. He had to admit, at least to himself, that Thea may have chosen right for him this time, if their eventual meeting had been her goal.

He had to clear his throat before he could drawl, in a deadpan tone, "Hello, Speedy.”

Leaning across the bar, his sister was grinning widely, triumphant.

He was surprised into laughter when Barry spoke up before Thea could get in another word, pressing a hand against his warm face and ruefully sighing, “You’re never gonna let us forget this, are you?”

The woman pursed her lips, pretending to consider the question seriously, then beamed. “I’m absolutely telling everyone I called it as part of the Best Woman speech at your inevitable wedding.”

Still chuckling, Oliver waved Thea off. “Go be smug somewhere else, sis.”

This time, she really did sound sober when she told him, “Only if you promise not to break Barry’s heart. He’s my favorite, and he deserves the very best.”

That had Oliver’s brow furrowing as he demanded, “So you point him at _me?_ ”

The look she aimed at him was a gentle, grown-up version of the awed love she’d watched him with when they were children. She repeated, “The very best. And I know you can be that, Oliver.”

Before the man could disagree, Barry piped up. “You know, since you took over Queen Consolidated, the stock’s risen to record highs. And-” he paused, swallowed, continued in a quiet voice, “-I can’t guess what happened to you while you were missing, but according to the people whose opinions I value, Thea and Ms. Lance, you’ve been kinder and harder working, leaving the tabloid messes behind and focusing on making the world a better place for everyone.”

He shuffled even closer and whispered in his ear, “Plus, the Hood’s mission started out in darkness and vengeance. Yet in the past year, he’s stopped killing people in exchange for saving them instead.”

Oliver flinched back and glared, feeling the vigilante rise up in the set of his shoulders and the hard darkness of his eyes.

At Barry’s knowing shrug, he forced the paranoia back down. Sure, someone could spend months infiltrating his social circles, make friends with several of the important women in his life, all in an attempt to get a confession or extort blackmail. Barry, though, didn’t fit that.

If there was anyone whose instinctive understanding of people he trusted, it was Laurel. And she considered Barry one of the best people she’d ever met. That counted for more than the Oliver who survived five years on Lian Yu would have been comfortable admitting.

Now, back in society, aware that his mission had changed, Oliver was willing to accept how true Laurel’s opinion of Barry was bound to be.

* * *

Thea, picking up that Barry had shared something which had put Oliver on the defensive, wasn’t sure how to diffuse the situation. Then she watched in confused pride as her brother slowly began to untense, before quietly replying to whatever Barry had said, voice too soft for her to hear.

The CSI got Oliver’s message loud and clear. “I shouldn’t trust you, but I think it might be worth taking a chance,” was murmured against his cheek, the warm brush of air and lips making a shiver slip down his spine.

A little shocked, Barry gaped, then smiled, and asked, loud enough that Thea caught the words, “Do you wanna get something to eat?”

Oliver cautiously nodded, before offering a hand.

Reaching out, Barry caught the extended fingers and gave them a strong, reassuring squeeze. “I promise I’ll never bring it up again, unless you do,” he offered.

“Let’s try dinner first,” was Oliver’s counteroffer, and Barry easily agreed.

As soon as the pair were out the front door of Verdant, Thea pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to the group conversation with Laurel and Felicity. _Mission accomplished._

 _They’re going to be adorable together_ , the attorney added.

Then Felicity chimed in, and Thea snorted. _This is a terrible, wonderful idea, and I owe you both a nickel._

(They never made bets for anything bigger.)

* * *

While filing the DNA sample of a defeated kidnapper, Barry wore a secret grin when he heard an officer and one of the other lab techs talking about how the Hood had been the one to rescue the victim. The official report also said that the Starling City vigilante had begun wearing a mask.

That little argument had been no fun, right up until Barry distracted Oliver with pursuits of a more carnal nature. And when he’d whipped up the domino mask and offered it to his boyfriend the next night, Oliver had grumbled, then reluctantly tried it on.

The pleased look Barry had earned when Oliver admitted that it didn’t obstruct his vision at all was almost as good as the kiss that followed.

Almost.

* * *

**_Venus & Fire_ **

_Love comes into the body like lightning - without fear. The spirit opens laughing. Love comes without hesitation. It comes with roses and knives. Love does not knock on the door, it burns it and throws all your walls into the fire._

_-Rune Lazuli_

**Author's Note:**

> As usual, Kate is to blame for this. Thanks for the prompt, love!


End file.
